Rice's Market, a Flea Market Fixture Near Doylestown, Will Close |
After more than 160 years in Solebury Township, Rice's Market sets its final day for Dec. 29 |
For generations of Bucks County families, a Tuesday or Saturday morning meant one thing: getting to Rice's early.
That tradition is coming to an end.
The owners of Rice's Market announced last week that the market will close, with its final market day set for Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2026.
Rice's sits on Greenhill Road in Solebury Township, about 20 minutes from Doylestown.
It traces its roots to 1860, when it began as A.L. Rice's agricultural market.
Over more than a century and a half, it grew into one of the best-known flea markets in the region.
For a lot of us, it was never just a place to shop.
It was pulling in before sunrise, coffee in hand, hunting for the bargain you would talk about all week.
It was the kind of place where you might come home with a rocking chair, a box of old records and a flat of mums from the same morning.
It was where you ran into neighbors you had not seen in months.
The owners pointed to a changing market and a changing economy in making what they called a hard decision.
Like many flea markets, Rice's has also seen fewer small vendors in recent years.
There is still time to say goodbye.
The market is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays, plus Black Friday, through the end of the year.
That is about ten more weeks of market days.
The early-bird tradition is part of the experience, so if you have always meant to go at sunrise, now is the time.
Bring cash, wear comfortable shoes and bring a bag or two.
Fall is a good season for it, with pumpkins, mums and holiday decorations alongside the antiques and odds and ends.
If Rice's has been part of your life, take someone with you who has never been, or someone who has been going for fifty years.
Places like this are a big part of what makes Bucks County feel like home.
We will miss it. |
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I cried reading this and I am not ashamed. Some places just hold a whole chapter of your life and Rice's is that for a lot of us.
165 years is a good run. Not easy to say goodbye but they should be proud of what they built and kept going this long.
Phil Bauer165 years is honestly remarkable. Most businesses don't make it five. Real testament to the family and everyone who kept showing up.
My concern is what happens to the land after. Hope it doesn't become another development. Bucks County doesn't need more of that.
Bring cash is good advice. A lot of the older vendors still do not take cards and the good deals are always with them anyway.
Greenhill Road on a Tuesday morning had its own energy. Hard to explain to someone who never went. Just a good place to be.
Dave_SoleburyThat early morning atmosphere was something else. Vendors still setting up, steam coming off the coffee cups. You really can't explain it right.
Going to take my mother in October. She has not been in years and this feels like a good reason to get her back out there one more time.
It really was the kind of place you ran into someone you hadn't seen in years. Happened to me more times than I can count.
That detail made it into the article for exactly that reason, Rice's had a way of turning a shopping trip into an accidental reunion, and there really was no place quite like it for that.
My wife and I had our first date at Rice's back in 1994. We went every year after that. This one really hurts.
Best cheesesteaks I ever had at 7am came from that food stand near the main entrance. Hope someone knows what I'm talking about.
You are definitely not alone on that one, the food vendors were their own reason to show up early, and those mornings had a way of working up an appetite before most people were even awake.
I always said I would take my granddaughter before she got too old to care. She's nine now. No more excuses. Going next Tuesday.
Gail FerrisNine is a perfect age for it honestly. She will remember it. Hope you two have a great time Tuesday.
The smell of the place in the fall is what I will remember most. Pumpkins and old books and frying dough all mixed together. Very specific and very perfect.
Not trying to be harsh but I drove out there two years ago and it was half empty. Feels like it had already been closing slowly for a while.
Worth the drive from the city. I used to make a whole morning of it, grab breakfast from one of the food stalls and spend a couple hours wandering. Going to miss it a lot.
My suggestion is to go on a Tuesday. Way less crowded than Saturday and you can actually talk to the vendors and hear their stories.
Started in 1860 is wild. That is older than a lot of things people consider historic landmarks. It deserved better than just fading out.
Changing economy they say. I think online selling really hurt these places. Why drive out when you can find stuff from your couch.
Took my kids last fall and they thought it was the coolest thing. They had never seen anything like it. Now glad we went.
Glad you went when you did, and that reaction from your kids says everything about what made Rice's special, it really was like nothing else.
AmandaLee_PASame here. My daughter talked about it for weeks after. Glad we have more chances to go back before December 2026.
Came home with mums, a cast iron pan and a vintage lamp all in one morning once. You really never knew what you were going to find.
The early bird thing is real. If you get there after 8 the good stuff is already gone. Been that way since I was a kid.
People keep blaming the economy but online selling is what killed flea markets. Why set up a booth on a cold Tuesday when you can sell on the internet.
Brought my kids last fall and they had a great time. Sad they won't really remember it. Going to take them again before it closes for sure.
The early bird thing is real. I once found a box of first edition paperbacks for five dollars total. You have to be there at opening.
Anyone know if the property will be sold or developed? That land off Greenhill is beautiful. Really hope it does not become another subdivision.
My grandmother bought a rocking chair there in the 1970s. It is still in my living room. I will be crying the whole drive home after the last market day.
Fewer small vendors is a big part of it. Half the booths were empty last time I went. Still worth the trip though.
Dec 29 2026 is the last day so there is still time. Do not wait until the final week like I did with Peddler's Village.
I found my dining room table there in 2009 for forty dollars. Still use it every day. Places like that just don't exist anymore.
Tip for anyone going before it closes: get there right when it opens. The good stuff is gone by 9am no joke.
My dad used to drag us there at sunrise every single Saturday. We complained the whole drive and loved every minute of it.
Honestly curious what the real reason is. Changing economy is pretty vague. Is it the land? Taxes? Someone buying the property?
I get that things change but losing Rice's feels like losing a piece of Bucks County. Not just a flea market.
Went last Saturday to pick up some fall decorations. Did not realize it was one of the last seasons. Now I wish I had stayed longer.
Been going since the 80s. Nothing hits like pulling in at 6am with a coffee and wandering around before the crowds show up.
I can't believe it is closing. My mom used to take me there when I was little and I still go every fall for mums.
Found my husband's grandmother's china pattern at a booth there once. Just sitting in a cardboard box. Bought the whole set for twenty dollars.
If you have not been just go. Stop saying you will go someday. Someday is now. Seriously.
kevin_h87Said this to my brother yesterday. He's been saying someday for like eight years. Texted him the article this morning.
Flea markets all over the region have been struggling. This one just lasted longer than most because it meant something to people here.
The vendors always seemed to know things. You could learn more about antiques in one morning there than anywhere else.
My dad bought a rocking chair there sometime in the 90s. That exact chair is still on our porch. He's 81 now. Going to take him before it closes.
1860 is not a typo. That place survived two world wars and a pandemic and it's the economy that finally gets it. Pretty rough.
That is exactly the context that made us stop and sit with this news for a moment, 165 years is a remarkable run, and you are right that the timing stings a little extra.
The mums in the fall were always my reason to go. Nothing beats picking out pumpkins there with the kids on a crisp October morning.
Honestly the parking alone was an adventure. Getting there before sunrise just to find a spot and then hunting for coffee. Miss those mornings.
The pre-sunrise parking scramble was practically its own ritual, and you have just described the full Rice's morning experience better than we did, coffee, chaos, and all.
Went every Tuesday with my mother in law for almost ten years. She passed in 2019. This news hit different than I expected.
20 minutes from Doylestown and most people I know from Doylestown had not been in years. Wish we showed up more.
ray_soleburyThat's the thing about places like this. You always assume they'll be there so you stop making the effort. Lesson learned I guess.
I remember buying a box of old 45s there for like two dollars. Spent the whole ride home going through them. Nothing like that anymore.
Carol HutchinsTwo dollars for a box of 45s is the dream. I found a crate of jazz records there once for five bucks. Those mornings were something else.
The vendors are what made it special. Once those small guys stopped coming it just wasn't the same walk.
Bring cash they say. Classic Rice's. That place never changed and honestly that was the whole point.
PatriciaNovakHa, cash only was such a Rice's thing. Kept an ATM envelope in my glove box just for trips there. Part of the ritual.
Cash only was part of the whole experience, honestly, it kept things a little wonderfully old-fashioned in a way that fit the place perfectly.
Dec 29 2026 feels far away but it really isn't. Going this Saturday for sure.
We bought our kitchen table there in 1987. Still have it. This is a real loss for the county.
A kitchen table from 1987 that is still in use is honestly the perfect Rice's story, and exactly the kind of find the article was trying to describe, bring home a rocking chair, a box of records, and something that lasts decades.
I can't believe it. My mom used to drag me out of bed at 5am on Saturdays for this place and I complained every single time. Now I'd give anything to do it again.
This might be the most Rice's thing we have heard, complained every Saturday, and now it is the memory you would trade almost anything for. Your mom knew what she was doing.